How they met
by Jenneavive
Summary: This is my (late) entry for the ZoSan valentine exchange for trufflelaw. this is a bed time story id read to my kids about the fae realm. please enjoy.


Hay guys this story is a little late for the ZoSan Valentine exchange. please forgive the tardiness. this story is for trufflelaw. i hope you enjoy it. it's probably not what you expected or up to your standards. but i hope you like it.

Note: this story is meant to be read like a bed time story (and i also can't write dialogue) so please forgive me if you don't understand it.

This is my first attempt writing ZoSan please tell me what you think. I do plan to write more at some point but don't when that'll be out.

Thanks for reading.

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Once upon a time, in the kingdom of the Fae, there lived a powerful king called Roronoa Zoro. Although he was powerful, he was not unkind. He was well loved by the fae people and was known throughout the many, many lands for being a just, wise and thoughtful king. He was also considered generous, often donating charity to those who needed it, much to distain of the royal treasurer, Nami. The red headed witch would often scold him for using his gold unwisely and without cause. But the king would often ignore her ranting and raving and often resumed whatever he was doing.

He would often leave his castle in the central fairylands, and make his way through the many vast plains to visit his people. He was easily identifiable with his large, not overly muscular build, olive tanned skin (uncommon among many fae folk) and his unusually bright, moss green hair. He was of sylph descent or believed to be. His common appearance is often that of a young man, that had just entered adulthood. Even though he had been king for many millennia, he was even older still. But in the fae lands age has no concept and time works differently to that in the mortal realm. Many of the fae had been around as long as him, if not, longer. So it wasn't uncommon for the king to be told off by many of the elders of the various communities he visited. Still he loved to learn about the histories of the different fae folk that roamed the lands. It gave him a better understanding of his people as a whole and not just his own heritage.

However, even in peace there is still conflict. The king often had to deal with those who opposed his rule. The reasons were often many and varied but the common thread was that they all believed that they would better suit to rule instead of him. Many areas fell under threat by these traitors, and would live in terror and squalor until the King reach them and bring them freedom. This often took many moons, even for all his strength, he was still only one being. The king eventually got tired of constantly versing opponents. They often didn't provide a challenge to be worthy of his time, but he still needed to keep his people safe.

After his final battle against a fae who claimed that he was far superior in power and that the King would bow before all his might blah, blah, blah. The King set about rewriting the lands treaty that would make looking after the fae lands easier of him and reduced the risk of serious damage coming to his people.

To ensure that the new treaty was kept and the lands maintained their peaceful balance; the king divided the fae kingdom in to eleven recognized regions. The centre of which was the fairylands where he resided and maintained. In order to ensure that the remaining regions would keep to the treaty the king went about searching each region to find the most suitable person. He didn't just go to those that were considered nobles to their regions he listened to the common fae and what they wanted in their regions leader. Each region required different strengths in their leader depending on what types of fae resided mainly in that region. Eventually after many moons searching he found the ten most promising minds to help him rule his land peacefully. These ten and he were dubbed the supernovas of the kingdom and once again the kingdom fell into peace.

For countless moons and many summers King Zoro remained happy that the land was in order and that his fellow supernovas upheld the treaty in his name. However, for all of his happiness and friends the king began to feel lonely. He eventually began to feel guilty for his loneliness which drove his depression even further. It was slowly beginning to affect everyone around him and also those in the lands.

Of the ten supernovas, Zoro had become good friends with an elemental called Luffy. He was strong and naive but he had a heart of gold and a charisma that drew people towards him. He was from the Eastern farmlands and was recognized by the scar under his left eye and the straw-hat he constantly wore either on his head or on his back. Luffy would also wear a huge grin that would usually spread to everyone near him, but recently his smile didn't reach seem his king as much as it used to. So Luffy went and consulted his smartest fae he knew, Chopper.

Of the King's friends, the smallest was a blue nosed reindeer Halfling by the name of Chopper. He was incredibly skill doctor from the northern winter caves. He had come to work as the Kings physician after demonstrating his skills after finding him half freezing to death, wondering around the caves, shirtless and wet from swimming in the underground lakes that are scattered among the caves. The King had the beginnings of severe frost bite and a cold. Chopper had him back on his feet within several hours and had agreed to follow the King home and to ensure that his patient made a full recovery and he never left. This was okay with the King as he found the Halfling amusing in his antics. Chopper became more of a little brother to the King than anything else and little Chopper was happy for the attention as he had never had a brother, just his grandma and passed adoptive farther.

When Chopper was little he didn't have anyone so he knew what being lonely could do to a person. He recognized the symptoms his brother was showing and began to feel sad that he couldn't help.

Chopper's thoughts about Zoro where confirmed when Luffy approached and asked him to help. After a few minutes of thinking they became distracted when, Usopp, a long nosed centaur who was exceptionally talented with a slingshot, came to tell them stories of how he came to conquer the mortal world. He would have stayed too, except the king required his assistance with the kingdom. But he turned down being a supernova because he was to humble to accept the offer (all lies of course). But Chopper and Luffy brought them all. However, when they did finally remember their mission, they still hand no ideas on what to.

So, Chopper went and sought help from his friend Chimney. She was a sylph like the King so he thought she might know what to do.

For a full moon cycle the two friends thought and thought on what could make the King happy again. It wasn't until Chimney randomly became depressed did they finally make any progress.

Chimney became depressed because she was thinking of times when she became lonely, such as Chopper playing with Zoro instead of her. There was also the time when her grandma drove the train to the Northlands on the other side of the ocean without her. She got really lonely then. But the saddest time she ever thought about being lonely was when she learned that long living fairy fae, such as pixies and sylphs, couldn't have children easily. Naturally born fairy fae like her were very rear. She voiced this to Chopper, who sighed and said that he was sorry that she couldn't have kids, when it clicked. They could find King Zoro a baby. The king would be happy then, he wouldn't be lonely anymore and Chopper and Chimney would have new friend to play with them. Chopper became so excited with his idea that he forgot to breathe and fainted.

When Chopper finally woke up, he excitedly explained to Chimney his wonderful plan. But, the plan had one major flaw. Where were they going to get a baby from? Even in a land as vast as the Fae lands you expect that one of the shorter living races with higher fertility rates than fairies would be expected to have some orphans. But, many of the races in the Fae lands have special rules and codes in place that mean that you have to be of that race to adopt an orphan, so the child has a chance to learn their heritage. And if no one of the race is willing to adopt the orphan, then the leading supernova will either become the child's guardian or designate an adult to be the guardian of that child. So there were no free babies looking for a home at this point, they would have to look elsewhere.

But that didn't matter, they had a plan and Chopper ran off excitedly to tell Luffy with Chimney close at his heels. The pair where so excited about the plan that they didn't notice the body stepping around the corner until, BANG. Chopper and Chimney landed with oomph. With a small muttering of apologies, the pair slowly picked themselves up off the ground. It wasn't until the pair was up right that they noticed how they had run into. Staring down at them was none other than the King.

Chimney and Chopper freaked, they screaming, and running and crying. They didn't want to meet the King. They didn't want to spoil the King's surprize; since they were both bad at lying. All the King could do was watch on in bafflement as the duo panicked at the sight of him. It wasn't until he noticed a shadow next to him that brought him out of his daze. Luffy was standing next to him alongside Usopp, as they stared at the kids running around. Feeling left out Luffy joined in and dog piled on Chopper, who was then jumped on by Chimney and Usopp. The King just walked away muttering "whatever" under his breath left the squirming pile of fairies in search that night sake supply in the kitchen.

When the pile finally tried noticed that the King had moved on, everyone was panting heavily. They all put their heads in and started to discuss where they were going to find the king a baby. Usopp had boasted about the many babies he had rescued and adopted, only to tell the others they couldn't give the King one because they would miss Usopp too much. That put everyone back to square one. Chimney then remembered something her grandmother once said about the mortal realm being filled with lots of little babies with no homes. The others cheered; they knew where they were going to get a baby from. Bu t the only question left was how where they going to retrieve a mortal baby.

Again, Chimney spoke out that her grandmother could help with that. Chimney told the others that the Sea train, Puffing Tom, could be used to cross from the fae realm to the mortal realm. Since Kokoro, Chimney's grandmother, was one of the few people that knew how to drive Puffing Tom, the others agreed that this was the best choice. So the four of them packed everything they thought they would need for the crossing. Luffy packed extra meet for the trip, Usopp packed extra sleeping pellets in case they ran into any trouble in the mortal realm. Chopper packed his medical bag with extra baby stuff to make sure the baby would be safe coming back. And Chimney packed (stole) extra alcohol from the kitchen to bribe/ persuade Kokoro into taking them across the border and back again.

When everyone was packed, they set off for the train station where Chimney lived with her grandmother. When they approached they station tower, Chimney was relieved to see the train looking ready and rearing to go. When they group reached the massive ten tonne, mega machine they were greeted with the familiar sight of Chimneys grandmother, sitting in the conductor's seat.

She waved to the younger fae to climb aboard and listened to their enthusiastic cries of how they were going to help the king to be happy again. Kokoro just smiled and laughed as if she knew what the children where. With one large chortle she told the kids to buckle up as she roared Puffing Tom into life and took off with the kids towards the boundary.

To say that the trip between realms was a rough one, even in the amazing Sea train, was an understatement. The four brave young fae all tumbled down the foot stairs of the conductor's carriage, all very dizzy, and landed on the dry soil of the mortal realm. It was dark and misty all around the train. The youngsters all took a minute to regain their balance and stomachs before turning to Kokoro to find out when they needed to be back by. Kokoro told them that the least time they spent here, the better, there was a lesser chance of being exposed to humans and causing havoc that way.

But, before Kokoro had finished speaking Luffy had already run off towards the lights of a town shinning in the distance. Kokoro told the remaining fae that they had to back with the child before sunrise so they could make the trip back to the fae realm easier.

The remaining fae nodded together to show they understood what was being said before they ran off to find Luffy, before he drew too much unnecessary attention to himself.

After several hours of searching the fae were unable to find any orphaned babies they could take without being noticed. Kokoro had told on the trip here that in order to prevent any unnecessary drama with the mortals, they would have to leave someone behind in the babies place so the mortals wouldn't get worried. Luffy didn't like that idea and told everyone that they must find a baby that is lonely because he didn't want to leave any friends behind.

So with that in mind, the fae searched and searched for a mortal child they could all return with. But as morning drew closer, it seemed more and more unlikely that they would all be able to return together. The city they arrived in was huge but they couldn't find any babies without parents or guardians to take to the King. The four of them set themselves down in a small alley way behind a small diner; trying to think of what they could do.

At this point, chopper was tired, he had seen the perfect baby a few blocks back but he had two loving mums that he knew would be willing to give up their child. He volunteered himself to stay behind but Luffy wasn't having any of it. Usopp and Chimney looked at each other and just shook their heads they might not have a choice if they wanted this plan to succeed.

That's when Usopp jumped five feet in the air. He pulled out his slingshot and called down the alley way, with his knees shaking, "who's there." The others just stared at him, trying to figure out scared him so much. The others squatted down and listened, and then they heard it. A small, grizzly, cry similar to that of a monster (in Usopp's opinion anyway). It was coming from the trash can Usopp had been sitting on. Luffy rushed over to protect his friend from whatever had scared him whilst Chopper coward behind Usopp and Chimney looked on with great curiosity.

Luffy lifted the lid off the trash can took a look and put the lid down again, before laughing at Usopp for being scared of a baby. The others laughed too, until they processed what Luffy had just said. A baby. Chopper and Chimney pushed Luffy out of the way to have a look. They both starred down in to the can and there it was. A little, squishy, red thing, wrapped in nothing but a banana skin stared up at them with big blue before scrunching his face again and giving a biggest wale his little lungs could master. Inside the trash can the yell echoed all down the alley way, this snapped Chopper out of this awe stricken trance and sent him into his doctor state. He gently pulled the little guy free of the rubbish bin and gave him a quick wipe down with a towel before handing over Chimney to hold whilst he found formula and clothes for him.

Usopp looked on with jaw slacking awe; he couldn't believe they had found a baby. In the trash can he was sitting on no less. He then snapped out of it and turned to Luffy to boast about how he knew that there was a baby in that specific trash can and had put on a show for the others so they wouldn't feel completely left out. Luffy looked on with stars in his eyes about how generous Usopp was before his attention was diverted to the blue and red lights coming up the street. The sirens alerted Chopper, telling the others they had to get away before the big mortals came and took the baby away.

At this point the baby was sleeping after being feed and warmed by the little fox outfit that Chimney had dressed him up in. Chopper put the little pup in his bag and made sure he was secured before they all made their way back to Kokoro and Puffing Tom so they could head home and hope to cure the Kings loneliness.

For all those that knew the King, they knew that there were times that you don't interrupt the King unless you wanted a new hair cut or body. This was one of those times, the King had been wondering around the castle for the past couple of hours after his run in with Chopper and Chimney and he had yet to find the kitchen.

At this point, the last thing he wanted to hear was that Kokoro had taken people over to the mortal realm without his consent. This made him not only furious but annoyed as well. He could of asked Kokoro to bring back some of the nice alcohol he liked so much.

With a scowl and a pouted lip he made his way to Kokoro station house to wait for her to return and to scold her for not telling him about this earlier. In the meantime he would get some sleep. Who knows how long it would be before Kokoro returned.

It was nearly sun up when he heard the familiar whistle of Puffing Tom pulling to the station. He knew Kokoro would be wearing her familiar smile even though she knew she was in trouble. Speak of the devil there she was laughing out of the window waving a bottle of sake as she leaned down to greet the King. Smiling and shaking his head at his drinking buddy's antics. He told her he'd forgiver her this time but to never go to the mortal world again without telling him first. She just smiled and laughed and promised she would try to remember next time.

However, Zoro knew he couldn't go so lightly on those that left the kingdom without his permission. Kokoro got away with it because she was one of the few that could drive the sea trains that allowed for trade among all areas of the kingdom. But those who broke the rules had to face punishment for their crimes. But when Zoro looked inside the carriage and that four of his most trusted friends were sitting in there most wearing shocked expressions at seeing the King standing there, except Luffy who yelled "Zoro," before starting to babble on about his adventures in the mortal realm.

The King was too dumbstruck to notice the squirming pile of cloth currently sitting on Chopper's lap. That was until the bundle started to wale because it was being ignored for too long.

The sound drew everyone's attention. The King just stared at the bundle wondering why they had a baby. He stood there looking stupefied until it clicked; they had brought the baby with them. Shit, was the only thought that went through Zoro's mind at that point. How could they be so stupid as to bring a mortal child in to their realm? It made no sense to him. It was one thing to go to the mortal realm for an adventure but another to bring back someone else's child.

Zoro couldn't find any words to describe this current situation. Even when Chimney moved him into one of carriage seats and Chopper placed the little bundle in Zoro's arms. Zoro just blinked at them, before instinctively pulling the little tyke into his body, Chopper corrected his hold so Zoro's biceps fully supported the baby's head. The King looked down in his arms and was met with the same blue gaze the others had seen when they first plucked the baby from the trash can. But this time instead of crying out, the baby snuggled closer into Zoro's body before closing his wide eyes and going to sleep.

The King was stunned he had never felt like this before. All thoughts of punishment disappeared. It was like the whole world had just dropped away and all that mattered was him and this small, defenseless child curled up in his arms. He felt so warm and wanted inside; all because of the child's simple actions. He slowly move the arm that wasn't supporting the child and gently brought his hand and brushed the fine silky stands that lay upon the baby's head. He smiled a little when the baby moved his head with Zoro's hand.

The other sat there watching their beloved King, completely at peace for the first time in a long time. They couldn't help but smile and giggle as they watch the King act so gently with their new Nakama. Everyone was overjoyed at the King's actions that they didn't even notice the small tears of happiness running down all of their faces. But still, they all knew that there was a chance that the King could send them back to return the baby.

But all doubts were put at ease when the King spoke that one simple word that would change all of their lives from that day forward.

"Sanji."


End file.
